


Saika

by Xweetibird



Category: Naruto
Genre: Actual Ninja Behavior, Angst, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team 7 against the world, Team 7 deserved better, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xweetibird/pseuds/Xweetibird
Summary: “Big brother, why? Why did you do this?”Itachi takes one look at Sasuke - wide-eyed, trembling, terrified Sasuke - and he makes a decision. He can’t base Sasuke’s well-being on a series of maybes. Danzo is still lingering in the shadows, the Third is too soft, an unexpected player has emerged - and he knows right then and there what he has to do. His Mangekyou wildly spins to life, Tsukuyomi activating almost instantly. He has to protect his little brother.He’s going to show Sasuke the truth.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 177





	1. Chapter 1

“Big brother, _why?_ Why did you do this?”

Itachi takes one look at Sasuke - wide-eyed, trembling, _terrified_ Sasuke - and he makes a decision. He can’t base Sasuke’s well-being on a series of maybes. Danzo is still lingering in the shadows, the Third is too _soft_ and why didn’t he do _anything to stop this-_ and he knows right then and there what he has to do. His Mangekyou wildly spins to life, Tsukuyomi activating almost instantly. He has to protect his little brother. 

He’s going to show Sasuke the truth.

* * *

  
  


**.: Chapter One :.**

**:: Prologue ::**

  
  


The fear is all-consuming. It crawls up his spine and wraps around his throat, suffocating and _choking_ him and he _can’t move oh my god-_ , but he has to know. He gulps, shifting one trembling arm forward and toward the sliding door before him. His limbs drag heavy as if they’re made of lead. 

He takes a deep breath and opens the door.

_What? This can’t be! Why?_

Sasuke stares shock still, frozen in disbelief and his eyes as wide as saucers- because there is no way that his parents are dead, no way that his big brother is ripping a blood-scarlet sword out of his mother, no way that _any of this is happening._

“Big brother, _why?_ Why did you do this?”

Sasuke knows he’s trembling. He knows fear is writ plainly on his face, he knows he’s crying before he even feels the wetness trail down his chin and neck. It’s all he can do to step back when Itachi’s eye suddenly spirals into a pinwheel, and when Sasuke thinks to breathe again he finds that he’s no longer in the house’s main room. Instead, he finds himself in a red clearing; nothing is inside except for Sasuke, Itachi, and the never-ending expanse of crimson. 

“Sasuke, listen to me - I had to do this,” Itachi begins, his voice frantic. “I had no choice, I had to _protect you,_ we don’t have much _time-_ ”

Sasuke gapes at his older brother, watching as Itachi’s chest heaves up and down. _To… protect me?_

“Big brother, what’s going on?” Sasuke asks hesitantly, voice quivering, and Itachi’s heart clenches painfully.

Finally, Itachi speaks, voice made panicked with desperation. “Sasuke, listen to me - I did this to save you and the village and _I’m so sorry that it came to this_ . I have to leave Konoha - I have to keep the village _safe_ \- but you cannot tell _anyone_ of what I’ve said here!”

Sasuke regards him, tears flowing freely, his limbs still tense from shock. “You killed everyone to keep the village _safe?_ What about our aunt and uncle? Our parents?!”

Every word Itachi hears pierces him like a knife.

“I can’t explain everything now, little brother,” and Itachi winces at the immediate rage in his brother’s face, “but it will all make sense later. It was all I could do to keep you _alive_ and our home standing strong. I’m so sorry, Sasuke, but it had to be done - all I’ve ever wanted is for Konoha to remain peaceful and for you to-” 

A pained grunt leaves his lips as he is interrupted by a piercing pain in his eye; he isn’t used to the Mangekyou yet and he hardly even knows the full extent of what it _does._

Sasuke watches as his brother doubles over, Itachi’s hand clutched over his eye as he grits his teeth in pain, and Sasuke rushes forward immediately. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he knows his brother would never do something so horrid of his own volition and without reason - and he knows in this moment that Itachi is still someone safe. His throat still clenches at the thought of what his brother has done, and his limbs still tremble in fear, but he knows his brother won’t hurt him. 

Itachi feels small hands suddenly envelop his own and grip for all they’re worth; it distracts him enough from his pain that he looks up at their owner and smiles - a soft, painful thing.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke,” he says, gently squeezing Sasuke’s hands back, unclenching his own hand from over his eye and moving two of its fingers towards Sasuke’s forehead, “but this is it, for now.”

Sasuke looks at Itachi’s fingers, he feels them softly hit his forehead with a nearly-audible _thunk_ , and the last thing he sees is Itachi’s gentle smile before the blissful release of unconsciousness.

***

_Don’t trust_ any _of the elders, no matter what! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’msorryI’msorryI’msosorrySasuke please protect Konoha, keep it safe, I love you, I love you, Don’t trust the elders, stay away from_ him _, be safe, I love you--_

“Itachi!!”

Sasuke wakes with a jolt, his brothers name ripped from his throat and _is that screaming? Oh, it’s me._

White walls surround him but he barely registers them; he doesn’t even have the chance to cry before something pricks sharp in his arm and he slips back into the blackness. 

This time, the thoughts are accompanied by images. An elderly man and woman stand side by side, their mouths a grim line and their eyes cold. _Distrust. Frustration._ The emotions come to Sasuke unbidden. _You cowards._

The Third Hokage, standing before him. _Betrayal._

_I trusted you._

A man with curling black hair, eyes gouged out, smiling. _Loss, despair, I couldn’t save you-_

Bodies, littering the street like trash. Blood pools beneath them. They’re still warm. 

_Remorse. Pain. I can’t-_

Another man. Tresses of spiked brown hair. An oddly scarred chin rests below a face so utterly blank with eyes so, so endlessly empty - Sasuke isn’t sure if the underlying fear is his own or Itachi’s. 

Pure, unadulterated _rage_ claws behind Sasuke’s eyes, so fierce that he can feel his body burning with the heat of it and his perception shrinks to a pin-point, singular focus of _I will come back to you and rip your head from your shoulders_ and this time, Sasuke doesn’t know who his own fear is directed towards anymore. 

He wakes up again. 

This time, Sasuke doesn’t scream. He just lurches forward, his hands twisting the sheets into a death grip as he gulps in huge breaths of air. Sweat beads from his temple down to his chin, tracing a hot line down his neck, and the rest of his body is damp, his clothing sticking to him like a second skin. 

Here, with the reality of what happened sinking into his bones - they’re _gone_ and they’re not coming back, ever, ever, _ever_ \- Sasuke cries. 

***

The third time Sasuke wakes, he slowly opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. His throat burns. He takes one, two deep breaths; his eyes trace the tiny cracks in the wall for hours, and he counts up with the tick of the clock.

He doesn’t know how much time passes. Maybe it’s hours, maybe it’s only a few minutes, but at last the door to his room slides open and Sasuke thinks _finally, I can go home_ even as his chest tightens with grief.

When the Third Hokage steps through the door with kind eyes and a gentle smile, Sasuke fights off the sudden and involuntary frustration by sitting up, closing his eyes, and counting backwards from ten. When he finishes, he opens his eyes and stores the unintentional emotional response in the back of his brain to be thought about later.

“Hello, Sasuke-kun. How are you feeling?” 

At the sound of the Hokage’s compassionate tone, Sasuke’s fists clench tight around the sheets as he grits his teeth in a one-word reply. 

“Fine.”

The older man frowns and Sasuke pointedly looks at the wall, ignoring the gaze being sent his way. 

He doesn’t want pity - he wants the last several of his memories to be a bad dream.

After an uncomfortable silence, the Hokage clears his throat. 

“Sasuke, do you know what happened?”

Another beat of silence. 

“Yes.”

More silence. 

“If you don’t want to go home,” the Hokage begins, tentatively as if Sasuke may break, “I can arrange for you to-” 

“I’m going back to the compound.”

He meets Sasuke’s gaze, surprised to hear such steely resolve in the boy’s voice. He narrows his eyes, but they never lose their gentle core.

“If you go back,” he begins, softly, “there will be nothing I can do for you. By all rights, the wealth of the clan falls to you. Money will be no obstacle, but you will be _completely on your own_.” 

Sasuke inhales sharply when he hears it spoken out loud. He knows, logically, that he won’t find anyone. There will be no cousins, no aunt and uncle to welcome him home and ask him about his studies. No more homemade bento, no more of his parents - and at this, his eyes well up with tears once more - but, most of all, there won’t be a big brother to look up to and feel safe with. Maybe there never will be again. 

The thought of Itachi allows Sasuke to snap out of his train of thought - he’s hurt and confused and tired, but he’s not alone. However long Sasuke was drifting in his mind, Itachi’s thoughts and emotions lingered. They spoke of an apology, of shared sorrow, but most importantly they spoke of love. He has Itachi, and Itachi has him - even if all of this raises more questions than it answers, and even if Sasuke feels an unidentifiable fragment of fear, Sasuke is okay so long as he can still have his big brother.

No, Sasuke isn’t alone. 

He looks towards the Third once more, knowing he would win this battle of wills. 

“I know. I know I’ll be alone, but I’m still gonna go back.” He narrows his eyes in challenge. “And you can’t stop me.”

The Hokage eyes Sasuke - the straight line of his shoulders, the set of his jaw. He may be but seven, but Sarutobi knows that he’s lost this fight before it can begin. Sure, he could order the boy to not return. He could order guards, a watch, he could make sure the Uchiha compound is inaccessible. 

But when he sees those eyes - too young, too much to lose and so, so weighed down, he sees Itachi. He sees a hurting teen who was forced beyond his limits instead of the seven-year-old boy before him, and he thinks this is the least he can do for two of the people Konoha has failed the most. 

“...Alright, Sasuke-kun. You can go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Don't worry, Kyoukasuigetsu is not cancelled or anything, I've just been trying to rework some ideas. I'm not a huge fan of the way I wrote it and I'd like to start with a rewrite, but I had THIS creative bunny and I had to start writing it ASAP. I hope you enjoyed the prologue! Please let me know what you think!


	2. Team Seven

**.: Chapter Two:.**

**:: Team Seven ::**

When Sasuke was seven, he felt true loneliness. He walked himself home from the hospital, through too-clean streets, to a house empty of life and full of ghosts. He scrubbed blood from the corners - the chuunin assigned to the task clearly didn’t care to do their damn  _ job _ \- and slept pressed into the wall. The cold, cold feeling crept into his bones, left him shivering on the floorboards and sleeping without resting. 

He woke up, put away his futon, and the feeling stayed.

Sasuke is twelve, now. As he sits at his desk, armed with one of his favorite shirts (Itachi favored purples in his clothing, so a loose purple top it is), warily eyeing his newly-assigned teammates, he reflects. All of his time at the academy has led up to this moment, to this team, with this teacher (this  _ very late _ teacher. Sasuke hopes this is a weird hazing or intimidation tactic and not a pattern). Every ounce of emotion-fueled training, every drop of blood, sweat, and tears, every sprain and bruise- it’s all been for this.

He’s finally, finally,  _ finally _ a ninja; now, he’ll be able to take his first teetering steps towards the truth, and, most importantly, towards his brother. Time has healed the Wound of the massacre into a scab - an incredible sharp pain when something picks at it, but not the gaping and bleeding hole in his entire self that it was. His thoughts and emotions have been sorted through and roughly organized to shape his goals. 

First, he thinks as he watches Naruto set up a crude prank, he needs to find Itachi. He has to know what happened that night,  _ why _ Itachi did what he did and how it was to protect the village and how it was to protect him and why it had to come to  _ that, everyone dead, so much blood, oh God -  _ everyone but him. He still trusts his brother and respects his wishes, knowing of Itachi’s guilt, love, and what seemed like  _ innocence _ \- well, not innocence, because he did kill everyone, and that's  _ terrifying, what if I wasn’t his brother, what if his orders change and he has to come back-!  _ but Sasuke doesn’t know what else to call it. Maybe he should be considered innocent. Sasuke doesn’t know, so he doesn’t think about it.

Secondly, he needs to protect the village  _ no matter what _ . Not only did he feel it through his encounter and subsequent mental link with Itachi, he also felt that if Itachi sacrificed so much - if their  _ entire family  _ had to _ die _ to protect Konoha - then he damn well won’t let that be in vain. Sasuke isn’t an idiot. He knows the people Itachi made him see have to be involved in Konoha’s politics. Nobody else would have the pull or power to command his brother. Sasuke knows these things, and yet - he still wants to protect this home, this village. He doesn’t fully understand why, doesn’t fully know how to tell Itachi’s feelings from his own - but he does know that he wants to protect the pier he trained with his father at, the field where he used to watch Itachi train, the academy where he learned about how to work and have patience and study, and all of the little places and things that make Konoha more than just a village _. _

Sasuke is roughly pulled from his head by the sound of the door sliding open and a flash of silver-white hair poking through the door. He only has time to think  _ is this guy for real about to get hit with a freaking blackboard eraser _ before his mind is forced to relocate to  _ oh my God, he is _ and Sasuke honestly doesn’t know how to respond to that in any way, shape, or form, so he just stares in a stunned silence as the wooden brush falls and hits their sensei’s head with an actual, audible (ow) knock. 

“How do I say this… my first impression? I hate all of you.” 

_ Well, great. _

***

As instructed, Sasuke and his new teammates (and he’s both afraid and  _ intensely curious _ of having these two in particular - Naruto knows loneliness just as intimately as he does and for all her crushing is  _ annoying _ , Sakura is the top-scored Kunoichi and the only Genjutsu type of their year) meet their new teacher on the roof. 

“Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?” 

Sasuke glances at his pink-haired teammate, trying (most likely unsuccessfully) to communicate his thanks for requesting clarification, and silently hopes that this won’t be super awkward for everyone. It probably will be, he thinks, but they can get through this, probably, maybe even retaining the ability to look each other in the eyes afterwards. 

“Well, you know. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams… things like that.” Kakashi’s smooth, slow voice does little to settle Sasuke’s anxiety, though Sasuke remains grateful that at least Kakashi doesn’t seem to be an eccentric or a loudmouth. Before Kakashi can name who goes first, Naruto asks ( _ demands _ ) that Kakashi tell all of them about himself, first. It’s only polite, after all. Sasuke, curious and yet not one to speak up, says nothing and listens to Kakashi speak.

“Me? Hm… I have a lot of likes, lots of dislikes… my hobby is nothing in particular, and as for my dream… Yes. How about the blonde one introduces himself next?”

Sakura leans in and whispers something like  _ cool, so all we learned is his name _ in a tone so unimpressed that Sasuke bites his tongue to not snicker. 

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto, y’know! I like Ramen, especially the kind they serve at Ichiraku’s! I hate the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to cook. My hobby is comparing different types of ramen! As for my dream, I’m gonna become Hokage, an’ I’m gonna make the Whole Village notice me, and then they’ll  _ have _ to respect me, y’know!”

Sasuke blinks. That’s. A lot. How the hell did he go from “My hobby is comparing ramen” to “I’m going to be the strongest shinobi in the village and make everyone respect me”? A quick glance to his other teammate shows that she’s just as confused as Sasuke is, and he lets out a breath, relieved in the knowledge that at least one of them is sane. 

“How… spirited?” Kakashi clears his throat. “Alright, pinky next!”

“I’m Haruno Sakura! What I like… I mean, the  _ person _ I like…Um, my hobbies are, um… my dream, ehehehe…” She cuts herself off with a squeal and Sasuke redacts his previous statement. Neither of them are sane. Great. So, he’s got Crazy One and Crazy Two - the Loudmouth Kid and the Stalker.  _ Great.  _ Before Sasuke does something stupid like try to sneak off of the roof, Kakashi asks Sakura about her dislikes. 

“I hate Naruto!”

The resulting squabble is so loud in his ear that it lets him know he was right to not sneak off the roof - he should’ve just plunged off of it instead.

“Alright, alright,” their sensei snaps them back to attention, “last one, you’re up.” 

_ Okay, be cool, Sasuke. You’ve got this. You’re cool._

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like tomatoes, and I don’t like overly sweet things or people who don’t think for themselves. My dream - no, my goal - is to protect Konoha, and…” dead black eyes and sharp, sharp features and a distinctive scar flash through his mind. “... _ kill a certain man _ .” 

_ Yep. Cool _ . 

A decidedly unimpressed-looking Kakashi stares at him, and the weight of his teammates’ eyes on him is beginning to make him want to squirm and red heat begins to crawl up his neck and to his cheeks, when - 

“Alright, you three are certainly… interesting! We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”

Sasuke exhales, tension he didn’t know he had leaving his shoulders, and wonders what their mission will be. Probably nothing big, or adventurous, or at all important - they’re just genin after all, haven’t even really interacted as a team, and -  _ wait, survival exercise? _ Sasuke tunes back into the conversation in time to hear Kakashi explain, and  _ shit,  _ that low _ of a pass rate? _ **_Back to the academy??_ ** Sasuke clenches his hands and tries to keep his breathing steady. He hasn’t come this far, lost so much, and worked so hard to be sent back to the academy not even two days after graduating. He listens as Kakashi says not to eat breakfast, listens when he gives them the time, and immediately leaves to prepare; his teammates aren’t his priority right now. He  _ needs _ to pass this exam. As he mentally rushes through every practical bit of shinobi know-how, reciting the rules and reviewing the survival exercises at the academy, Sasuke packs his bag like his  _ life depends on it _ . He’s got multiple spools of wire, a pack of explosive tags, and he’s packed all of his kunai and shuriken - freshly sharpened. He walks into the kitchen, ignores his mother’s favorite cup sitting on the counter where it’s remained untouched for the past five years, and makes himself a big dinner - if he can’t have breakfast, he needs a large and balanced meal before morning. Vegetables, beef, shrimp, and noodles are served with miso soup and washed down after with warm chamomile tea to ensure a restful sleep. He showers, scrubbing his skin until it’s red and raw (he needs to be  _ clean _ , fresh, brand-new and Prepared to face each day) and then crawls into bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day - he has a feeling he’ll need every bit of rest he can get.

***

_ Okay, _ Sasuke thinks, sitting across from Sakura with Naruto tied up just behind and between them,  _ I officially hate everything. _ He thought he did okay. He even  _ touched a bell _ . Shit, Naruto had done  _ something _ somewhat impressive, even if it didn’t remotely work, and he didn’t see it but Sakura just finished telling them how she dismissed a genjutsu Kakashi tried to trap her in. Against a jounin, Sasuke thought they did  _ pretty damn well _ . 

So  _ what _ is this about  _ quitting being ninja _ ?

But the more Kakashi explains, the more  _ stupid _ Sasuke feels.  _ Of course _ it was about teamwork. A quick glance at Sakura shows her looking at her lap, head hung in shame. She hadn’t figured it out, either - probably too preoccupied with her crush. Naruto, too, is uncharacteristically quiet. It seems they all messed up on this one. 

When Kakashi steps up to the stone, when Naruto in his naivete shouts how he’ll end up on it and Sasuke  _ knows, knows, knows what it is the whole time because he spent so much time here, after _ , when Kakashi says that all his friends and family are on the stone, Sasuke’s heart  _ clenches _ . Grief, for the both of them, wells up in his chest and squeezes around his entire being like some mockery of an embrace. 

When Kakashi turns around, his eyes steely and focused - when Kakashi  _ gives them another chance _ , Sasuke knows he can’t waste it. He sets his mind to work, turns to his  _ three-man squad _ , and together they start to formulate a plan. They’re halfway through when their stomachs growl, and Sasuke and Sakura both glance at Naruto before they grab their boxes. They open them, and Sasuke sees Sakura have the idea the same moment he does. She puts down her chopsticks and glances nervously between her bento, Naruto, and the treeline; slowly, she meets Sasuke’s eyes and bites her lip, unsure. Sasuke knows she’s always been kind of a goody-two-shoes, a little bit of a teacher’s pet, and a  _ lot _ of a girl raised in a traditional civilian household with a very  _ pointed _ view of honor and rule-following, so he can’t hold her hesitance against her too much. He instead offers his own lunch to Naruto and pointedly ignores her relief and how it makes him feel -  _ uncomfortable and a bit put on the spot  _ \- and says that Naruto can just eat some of his lunch because he himself ate a big dinner last night and could probably go for a couple of hours yet. It’s at this juncture where Sakura seems to find some semblance of resolve and offers her own lunch, saying that if they split it three ways it should be enough for all of them. Slightly impressed with the girl, Sasuke awkwardly grabs some rice with his chopsticks and gives it to Naruto as Sakura does the same with her umeboshi. It’s here, where Sasuke feels the tentative beginning of some unstable  _ something _ , that Kakashi appears like lightning and with all the thundering noise of a storm.

Here, they make their first stand as a team, defying their teacher on shaky legs. When Kakashi passes them, Sasuke nearly  _ falls over _ in relief, but he keeps himself standing. He has a  _ reputation, thank you very much. _

“In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum,” and Sasuke wonders where Kakashi is going with this, if he’s going to say it was a joke that they passed because they  _ definitely just broke the rules _ \- “however, those who abandon their comrades are even  _ worse _ than scum. Welcome to your squad.”

  
Team Seven starts today, armed with their new Motto, and Sasuke  _ considers _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! And thank you for the kudos and bookmarks <3\. Please tell me what you think!


	3. Assessment

**.: Chapter Three :.**

**:: Assessment ::**

Sasuke thought that being a Genin would be easy, but useful. Slow-going, maybe tedious, but useful all the same; low-priority missions, courier duties and the like with their Jounin-sensei, maybe even some bandits. 

Mostly, Sasuke muses as he stares off blankly towards the forest, it’s just  _ boring _ . This is easily their  _ fifth _ time catching the  _ same cat. _ Not to mention the three fences he and his team painted last week, the grocery shopping they suffered through for some old lady, and the roof they fixed just this morning. As Naruto screeches through their headset, Sasuke ripping it out just in time to miss the enraged yell of their female teammate in retaliation, he mostly wishes that they’d just do something -  _ anything _ \- other than this. Unfortunately, they  _ are _ doing this, so Sasuke puts his earpiece back in and listens for his teammates. 

“I’ve found her.” Sakura’s whispered voice crackles through the connection. “She’s by that old tree again.”

_Probably harassing the same family of birds, too_ , Sasuke thinks as he rolls his eyes and moves to his position. _She can’t even_ climb _. Why not chase a mouse or something?? It would at least be something productive- wait why am I_ _actually_ invested _in this_ _cat?!_

“Didja get lost, bastard? What’s taking so long, y’know?!” Naruto’s less-than-subtle yell once again blasts through the comms. 

“Naruto! You  _ scared her away,  _ I'm going to  _ kill you!! _ " 

And thus, the mission continues. 

***

“Welcome back, Team Seve-”

“If you have us catch this cat  _ one more time _ , I’m going to fight you, y’know!!” 

For once, Sakura doesn’t care to berate her blonde teammate for his blatant disrespect. Instead, she resigns herself to looking apologetic towards the Hokage - although, truth be told, she’s getting a little tired of the mission herself. Sasuke just shoves his hands in his pockets and looks so forcefully neutral that Kakashi almost winces.

“...Is that so? Well, in any case, that was the last mission for your fine team today, so-”

“Old man, when are we gonna be sent on real missions! I want to beat up bad guys an’ rescue girls an’ stuff, y’know!”

As the routine argument continues in the background, Sasuke noting with amusement a slowly-growing vein in the Hokage’s temple as Naruto continues to interrupt him without fail and as Sakura looks extremely uncomfortable with the casual disrespect, Kakashi thinks that he’s observed enough missions for now. He’s seen their barely-there teamwork, he’s seen what team positions everyone has naturally leaned towards (Sasuke is silently-but-constantly watching out for his team and is strangely attentive to their needs, Naruto is a force of nature who understands people  _ brilliantly _ , and Sakura will make an excellent team captain once she grows out of her crush and into her confidence- that girl has an incredibly  _ sharp _ mind), and he knows he’s seen enough to move his team onto bigger and brighter things. 

“Kids, kids,” he says, mostly addressing Naruto despite the plural, “I think that’s enough insubordination for the day.” Ignoring Naruto’s face as it scrunches up in confusion, he continues. “Tomorrow, we’ll start training for real, so stop complaining.” 

Naruto quickly picks up an excited mantra of ‘Training! Training!’ which everyone in the room tries unsuccessfully to ignore. To Kakashi’s amusement, their most stoic little member is awkwardly trying to stuff down his excitement. Sakura looks more afraid than anything else. Kakashi frowns. Not good, but there’s not much he can do except wait for her to take the initiative and come to him. 

“Meet at Training Ground Three at seven tomorrow. See you all then, my cute little Genin!”

Kakashi disappears in a dramatic swirl of leaves, and Sasuke utilizes the opportunity to promptly walk out the door. Naruto quickly scrambles after him, shouting “hey, bastard, wait for us, y’know!” and leaving poor Sakura, the only one with any  _ respect for the rules _ , bowing respectfully in apology and backing out of the door with many “Thank you, Hokage-sama, I’m sorry!”s and lots of frantic hand-waving at the gathered chuunin, who mostly seem horribly amused. 

As they all leave, the Hokage only sighs and resumes his work, resigned and somewhat fearful of the fact that Team Seven is going to be an absolute handful. He tells himself that they’ll grow out of it, but he swears he hears a laughing voice somewhere in the distance of his subconscious. He tells it to shut up and attacks the next stack of papers. 

***

Golden sunlight filters through the trees, offering warmth to the morning and making the dewy grass gleam and sparkle in the breeze. Hazy cool-white mist settles lazily above the ground, just barely beginning to dissipate in the slowly-gathering heat of the day; the three gathered genin shake the dawn’s cold from their bones, and, peacefully, they wait. 

And wait. 

**  
  
**

...And wait. 

**  
  
**

...

**  
  
**

And wait.

The sun has now burned through the mist, through the dew, through the day, and through what Sakura thinks is  _ at least _ two layers of Sasuke’s skin. She tried to offer him sunblock but he just ‘Hn’ed her (and what does that say about her life with this team, that ‘hn’ is now a verb in her vocabulary), and Naruto’s copper-bronze skin offers plenty of protection on its own, so she didn't even ask.

“Yo! Sorry, I got lost on the path of life - I walked under a ladder, and then had to perform the proper countermeasures, and by then I was thinking of mortality- but anyways!”

He cut himself off as his genin just stared, and he pouted a little - he’d hoped they’d keep up the yelling for at least another week. What? It was  _ funny _ . Sasuke would puff up like an irritated cat, Naruto would shout with all the blustering loudness of a puppy who wants something, and Sakura would get red all over and have her ‘I respect authority but I’d like to scream at someone’ internal battle.

Oh, well. Nothing lasts forever. 

Clearing his throat, Kakashi continues. 

“Right!” he says, clapping his hands together. “Today, we start Part One of my Ultimate Training Plan. It’s an intensive plan, carefully crafted with all of my experience as a Konoha ninja, designed to make you the most frightening and capable team the Shinobi Nations have ever seen! We start with…” 

He drinks in their poorly-concealed hope, awe, and excitement. This is going to be great. 

“Basic fitness evaluation!” 

“Senseiii!!!” comes the chorus of all his students as they groan and tilt their heads back in frustration. Yep, it was great.

“Why do we have to do that?! You already know our skills, y’know! What was the survival test for??”

Sasuke and Sakura nod in agreement with their teammate, Sasuke’s eyebrows in a tight line of annoyance and Sakura's nose scrunched up in distaste. 

“That was more of a personality test. It showed me the bare minimum, but I don’t know what your limits are, I don’t know how physically strong you are, and I don’t know where your physical endurance is at. These exercises will show me all of that. We’ll begin with the easiest - strength.” Kakashi summons a piece of equipment - a tall stand with a horizontal bar at the top. “Starting with pull-ups. Push yourself to your absolute limit. We’ll start with Naruto, in ten minutes - first, we’re going to do some basic katas to warm up. Can any of you tell me why?” 

Naruto remains silent, though by the look on his face he’s furiously trying to figure out the answer; Sasuke looks contemplative, but ultimately, it’s Sakura who speaks up after a sideways glance at her crush. 

“It, um, it improves circulation and increases your heart rate. It loosens your joints and increases blood-flow to your muscles; this reduces the risk of muscular injury and helps keep your heart rate from rocketing too quickly. It’s kind of like washing your face or brushing your teeth before starting your day.”

“Good job, Sakura,” Kakashi says, and the girl flushes at the praise. “Now, we’re going to begin with an easy jog around the training ground. You can set your own pace, but keep it light.” With that, Kakashi sits down by a tree. When none of his Genin take the initiative, he levels them with a look that says ‘well, what are you waiting for?’ and makes a "shoo" motion with his hand before pulling out  _ Icha Icha _ and leaving them to it. He sets his timer for the aforementioned ten minutes and observes them over the edge of his book.

_ That form is certainly… something, _ he thinks as he watches Sakura set a pace about half as quick as her teammates.  _ Naruto will be the first to burn himself out _ follows next as he sees him lap Sasuke not two minutes in.  _ Sasuke needs to work on his pride before it kills him _ comes soon after as Sasuke scowls and speeds far beyond the original pace he set for himself; most of all, though, Kakashi has one thought on his mind as the timer rings through the clearing and he puts away his book. 

_ I can work with this. _

After their jog, Kakashi watches them run through the katas for the Academy Standard style twice before ending it. “Alright kids, time to test your stuff. Naruto, you’re up first.” 

And so the three genin take turns on the pull-up bar with varying levels of success. Naruto cranks out a solid 20, Sasuke pushes through a respectable 16, and a thoroughly embarrassed Sakura… well, she tries her best and struggles through 8 before she just can’t do it anymore. Despite her willpower, her shaking grip slips as she tries to grit her teeth through the ninth repetition, and she lands harshly on her butt as she falls, hanging her head low. When she fails to rise immediately and instead emits a concerning sniffle, Kakashi tactfully shoos the boys off to run more laps as he crouches down in front of her.

“Sakura-chan, what’s wrong?” 

He patiently awaits her answer, never letting his demeanor slip from the reassuring picture he’s trying so hard to make. 

“It’s just…” she begins, tucking her head to her knees, “they’re so much… _ stronger  _ than me. I’m trying my  _ best _ but I’m just not  _ there  _ and I don’t want to look bad in front of Sasuke-kun and I don’t want to be the person who pulls the whole team down and I don’t know why I’m so bad at this-!”

Kakashi flutters his hand around uselessly before it finally lands on the (now fully crying) girl’s shoulder. The initial panicked  _ God, I didn’t know I’d see tears this soon, what the actual fuck am I supposed to do _ is quickly shoved aside in favor of a more rational  _ reassure her, you idiot _ and Kakashi takes a subtle grounding breath before talking to the oldest member of his team.

"Sakura-chan, look at me. No, I mean it - look at me- there you go. Listen to me. This is what training is  _ for _ . Even if you always remain behind them in pure physical strength, which  _ may not _ even be the case, I will teach you. This is what  _ teams _ are for. All of us will cover you.  _ You _ will cover  _ them _ when it counts, and neither of them have your lightning-quick strategic thinking or your technical know-how. And don't doubt your dear jounin-sensei - I'll have you up to snuff in no time. Just try your best and you will improve. Use what you're feeling right now to motivate you. Okay, Sakura-chan?" 

After another sniffle, Sakura wipes the remaining tears out of her eyes, and even though they're still red-rimmed she looks determinedly up to her sensei. 

"Okay." 

After helping a now-refreshed Sakura up to her feet, Kakashi beckons the boys back over and laughs at how they awkwardly hover over her until she shouts " _ honestly _ , you two, I'm  _ fine! _ " with false annoyance in her voice and an honest smile on her face. 

"Alright, who's ready for step two?" Kakashi asks with a menacing grin, watching his students' faces fall into fear when he drops the area-effect genjutsu he's been using to reveal his ninken standing before them. 

"A word of advice?  _ Run. _ " 

The genins  _ bolted _ . 

***

_ Holy shit, I'm going to  _ die _ in the middle of a training ground, goodbye mother and father, I hope Kakashi-sensei tells them I tried my best. _

Sakura can’t  _ breathe _ , her legs and core muscles are locking up painfully in cramps, her chest is heaving and her throat  _ burns _ until finally her legs give out and she comes tumbling down in a tangled heap of limbs. She barely registers Kakashi telling his ninken to quit chasing her and when she does, she manages to get out a “Just let them eat me, Kakashi-sensei, it's too late for me” before she rolls over onto her back. 

“Maa, Sakura-chan, what happened to getting stronger?” Kakashi teases as he crouches down beside her prone form, unsealing a water bottle. He hands it to her with the simple command to cool down and stretch, and he turns around to see who will go down next. 

“How… on earth… does Naruto... have that much… stamina?” Sakura asks between pants after a moment, walking slowly in circles with her hands clasped behind her head; looking at the blonde in question, Kakashi sees him make two clones to distract his dogs as he shouts, still sprinting at top-speed in comparison to Sasuke’s stumbling-but-determined movements. 

It’s Sasuke who falls next, five minutes after - limbs flailing as he attempts to turn the uncontrollable fall into a graceful dodge. 

_Well, that was … sort of successful?_ _He definitely landed,_ Kakashi thinks, a vaguely _puzzled-amused-curious_ expression on his face as he looks up at the tree Sasuke somehow managed to end up in from a fall to the _ground_. 

“Ah, Sasuke-kun… do you need help?” he asks tentatively, still trying to puzzle out exactly what possessed Sasuke to flail out with his chakra, thus sending him rocketing into the forest canopy where he now appears stuck. 

The only response Kakashi receives is a half-hearted attempt of thrashing appendages and a pitifully distressed yelp that Sasuke would likely deny for the rest of his life. Kakashi snickers, finds himself on the receiving end of a Sasuke Death Glare, and helps down his student. After giving him the same water-and-instructions moment as he did Sakura, Kakashi goes to chase after Naruto  _ himself. _ The resulting shriek of sheer terror would keep Kakashi laughing for  _ days. _

Fifteen minutes later, Kakashi called off the chase - Naruto was panting in the heat, but Kakashi resigned himself to the fact that trying to tire him out would be an uphill battle with an end sometime in the late, late evening and Kakashi wanted to move on at some point, please. 

“Okay, you three, good job,” he says, watching as his students continue to stretch their aching muscles. “Sakura, you dipped out first, but you had a good run. Six minutes is a respectable first attempt. Especially considering you were all thrown into the situation quite suddenly-” here, Kakashi has to ignore the passionate shout of  _ ‘if by “situation” you mean “running for our actual lives”, y’know! _ ’, “you did well. Sasuke, you threw in the towel - and yourself into a tree - at eleven minutes in. Undoubtedly above-average for your age.” Kakashi breathes deeply and tries to prepare himself for any hurt feelings or emotional fallout for what he’s going to say next.

“Naruto, I stopped you at twenty-six minutes in, but I’m well aware that you could likely keep the chase going until  _ I’m _ out of breath.”

Sasuke inhales sharply and looks away, his face scrunched tightly in a scowl. Sakura just gapes openly, all thoughts of decorum and control forgotten, and asks after a second of stunned silence - 

“But how?! He’s just a genin, like us!” 

“In your lives, you’re going to find ninja better than you in different areas. Maybe they’re more naturally gifted in an area you find yourself lacking in, and sometimes that might hurt - but overall, most ninja will fall somewhere within the same general area of capabilities based on their rank. Nobody can predict outliers, Sakura-chan - Naruto is just that. This isn’t something so simple as ‘Naruto has slightly more stamina, but he’s still within the average for his rank, or it may be high but he’s lacking in physical strength as a balance’ - no, Naruto is an extreme case. He may even out-do  _ me _ in terms of sheer stamina, despite my experience and Jounin rank. Some people are just born like that.” At this, an unusually quiet Naruto clutches at his shirt over his stomach, and Sasuke’s scowl only deepens. “This is something you all will have to get used to. However!” he exclaims in an attempt to break the tension, clasping his hands together, “this doesn’t mean that Naruto is any better than either of you. It may feel like that sometimes because you will be scraping the bottom of your reserves while he’s still going strong, but having all that energy doesn’t mean he has the control or technical skill that either of you may have. Each of you are different, with your own strengths and weaknesses. That’s why you were slotted into this team. It will all balance out in the end, so don’t worry, okay? Now, who’s ready for more exercises?!”

Any remaining emotions are immediately overridden with exhausted cries of dismay, and Kakashi’s chuckle is their last semblance of normalcy until much, much later in the night.

***

Several dozen push-ups, some core exercises that worked muscles Sasuke didn’t even know he  _ had _ , and too many leg workouts later, Kakashi finally let them rest under the burnt-orange sky. The three genin bask in the dusky glow of the evening, sprawled out in the soft grass and sufficiently cooled-down to a state of absolute comfort. Unsealing four more water bottles and handing three out to his team, Kakashi makes them sit up and face him. 

“Alright, you three, we’re done for the day. Tomorrow won’t be as extreme-” here, he increases his own volume to continue over Sakura’s ‘thank  _ god _ ’, “ _ but! _ you won’t get off scot-free. Using what I saw today I’m going to start tailoring your training, and it will push all of you. Oh, I will also be bringing you a present tomorrow, so look forward to it!”

Kakashi thinks Naruto mutters something that sounds suspiciously like “I think you’re the last person I would trust a present from right now”, but as Sasuke gracelessly kicks Naruto for the comment with a hiss of “shut  _ up _ , usuratonkachi!” Kakashi figures he can let it slide. 

“Be here at 11 AM. You’re dismissed. Make sure you eat a good dinner and be sure to eat a balanced breakfast tomorrow morning - try to keep it at about an hour before you have to be here. Good night, you three!” With that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving his three ‘cute genin’ exhausted (practically dead, if you ask Naruto) to flop back down on the ground.

****  
  


The genin lay there for a solid five minutes until Naruto says “I think I actually died, like, three times just then, y’know,” finally breaking the silence. 

Sakura groans uncomfortably as she tries to get to her feet. “ _ You _ actually died? What about me and Sasuke? I seriously don’t know how you do it,” she continues, keeping her hands on the ground as she stands, stretching her legs. “It’s like you have infinite energy.” 

She’s met with an uncomfortable laugh from the blonde, but she doesn’t push it. Instead, as she slowly raises her arms upwards, extending them towards the sky, she addresses Sasuke. 

“What about you, Sasuke-kun?”

“Hn.” 

“Wow, cool, me too” is her instant, uncontrollable reply, sending Naruto into an exhausted sort of giggling. She immediately snaps her mouth shut because  _ “Did I just sass Sasuke-kun?!” _ briefly overrides her ability to function, but she’s saved from flailing around an apology by Naruto loudly standing and stretching with a yell of satisfaction. 

_Seriously, the energy level. What the hell._ Sasuke glares half-heartedly to his left where Naruto is beginning to stretch out his hand to offer assistance. By the time Sakura has noticed the action, trapped Naruto in a triangle arm choke ( _where did_ she _get the energy??_ ), and looked over to offer _her_ hand instead, Sasuke is already walking away. 

“Wait, bastard- Sakura-chan I’m  _ tapping out!!! _ \- come back!” Naruto shouts after their dark-haired teammate to no avail. 

Hearing the sounds of squabbling behind him, hearing Sakura throw Naruto and attempt to catch up with him, Sasuke smiles. 

When he comes home, when he eats dinner, when he goes to bed, he thinks this might not be so bad. When he’s ripped from sleep by the smell and feel and, god, the _taste_ of blood- when the ghosts in the compound pressurize the room until it’s unbearable, he thinks of the warm feeling of family and surrounds himself with it like a child wields a blanket to stave off the monsters in their closet. He’s not sure it works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think!


	4. Learning

**.: Chapter Four :.**

**:: Learning ::**

Sasuke wakes up fairly decently-rested at 8 AM and groggily rubs the sleep from his eyes. He throws his futon over the railing around his porch (which he will forever deny made him  _ actually yelp  _ in pain because he was so sore) and pads into the kitchen, clumsily rummaging through his cabinets and fridge until he feels like he’s gathered enough material for his breakfast. His arms feel like Actual Death, so he decides to keep it simple. He cooks up some rice, scoops it into a bowl with the chipped paddle that his mother always used, and cracks an egg over it. He pulls out some leftover chicken and vegetables, but when the weight of the cast-iron pan hits his arms he decides that eating them cold and non-stir-fried is fine. 

After his half-hearted meal, he rinses out his dishes and sets them in the sink before returning to his room and digging through his closet. Today, he again raids a stash of Itachi’s clothes and pulls out a fresh pair of black shorts and a simple black shirt with the Uchiha crest emblazoned just below the neckline in the back. He pushes his arms through the short sleeves, puts on his shorts, wraps his hands and shins, and slips on his sandals. He walks outside, stopping only to put his futon back indoors, and at 10 AM he leaves the Compound and heads towards the lively streets of the market.

Making his way up and towards the civilian district, which lies just beyond the market, Sasuke utilizes his extra time to think. He’s starting to train, for  _ real _ , and he can’t help but look at the cavernous gap between him and Itachi. His brother is out there, right now, doing who-knows-what, branded as a villain and likely having to live as one. Itachi is an incredible ninja, but Sasuke still worries - both about Itachi  _ and _ about how long it will take for him to improve in his training to a point where Sasuke can find him and set everything straight. Sasuke wants answers but he doesn’t know how to get them and he doesn’t know why Itachi left and he doesn’t know why he’s afraid of him and he doesn’t know why he’s afraid  _ for _ him and he doesn’t know when he will  _ get _ to know these things and he  _ just. doesn’t. know. _

His breathing quickens before the sharp, jarring sound of shattering pottery snaps him out of his train of thought. With a quiet curse, he realizes that he’s been pondering a bit longer than he wanted to and he dashes off towards the training ground - he doesn’t want to know what Kakashi would do if he shows up late. Sure, their sensei plays at being late himself, but during training yesterday Sasuke  _ swore _ he overheard Kakashi comment on a conversation Sakura and Naruto had when Sasuke was positive the three of them were alone. Maybe he’s being paranoid, but Sasuke would like to continue living, please.

Sasuke makes it to the bridge just in time to see Naruto fall from where he was sitting, seemingly having fallen asleep on the railing, now violently awoken by the weight of his head cracking against the wooden structure. 

“Ow, ow, ow, ow! That hurt, y’know!”

“Resorted to talking to bridges now, usuratonkachi?” Sasuke taunts as he offers his hand out to assist.

“I don’t need your help, ya bastard!” Naruto replies, slapping away Sasuke’s hand and leaping to his feet. “Hey, where’s Sakura-chan?” 

Pausing, because he really hadn’t noticed she wasn’t there yet, Sasuke looks around.

“Hn, I dunno. Maybe she’s brushing her hair or something.”

Ten minutes pass. 

_ She was supposed to be here ten minutes ago _ quickly comes to Sasuke’s mind and is just as quickly dismissed.

Fifteen more minutes pass, and this time the thought isn’t as easily ignored. Naruto has been nervously bouncing his leg and has insisted on a search at least three times.

“She’s probably just doing whatever girls do in the morning, Naruto. Calm down.” 

Twenty minutes pass and Sasuke is  _ seriously _ worried now because Sakura has always been at least ten minutes early for  _ everything, _ she always aims to please, and her civilian household means she has a family with values that focus on things like propriety and honor and timeliness and perfect behavior. Sasuke could go on for ages but he doesn’t really care about the  _ why _ , he just cares that his goody-two-shoes never-late teammate hasn’t shown up and it  _ isn’t like her. _ What if something happened? Anxiety begins to creep up the back of Sasuke’s neck, wrapping like hands around the base of his skull and making his temples feel tingly and hot. He’s two minutes from taking Naruto’s suggestion from a consideration and turning it into a damn  _ mission _ when, blessed relief, he spots their teammate sprinting towards the bridge. He released a breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding and puts on his best “Whatever, I totally wasn’t worried” face. 

“I’m so sorry! I… just… hold on,  _ ow _ , my legs… are so  _ sore! _ ” Sakura starts in a rush, between pants, hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath. She takes a water bottle from her pouch, takes a sip, and then pours some water over her palm and cups the back of her neck. “Sorry, I was just so exhausted I completely overslept! How are you, Sasuke-kun? I hope I didn’t miss anything-  _ eep! _ ” she’s cut off by a hand suddenly landing heavily on her shoulder. She looks up to see Kakashi has arrived, and she shrinks in on herself a little, afraid to meet his eyes. “It won’t happen again, I promise!”

Kakashi just looks at her, smiles, and says “what won’t happen again, Sakura-chan? Did I miss anything?” as he looks up to Naruto and Sasuke, who in unison give an unconvincing ‘no!’ and are now looking  _ aggressively neutral _ . 

_ Well, they definitely need to work on their acting, but hooray for… team solidarity?  _ Kakashi considers calling them out, but since Sakura is  _ never _ late, he’s okay with letting it slide this time. 

“Alright then, you three! It’s time to get to work.”

Kakashi leads them again to training ground three and plops down in the middle of the clearing. “Come on, sit, sit! Your sensei has presents for you!” he says, pulling out little slips of plain paper as the genin gather around. One by one his students settle into the grass, curiously eyeing the paper with unconcealed interest. He tells them all to stretch in place, and starts his lesson.

“This,” he begins, handing the slips out to his students one by one, “is chakra paper. It will tell you what your chakra nature is. Do you all know what the natures are?” 

“Fire, Earth, Water, Lightning, and Wind,” Sasuke replies immediately, already intimately familiar with elemental chakra nature. He belatedly glances over at Sakura -  _ holy shit she’s just casually doing a split backbend  _ \- to make sure she wasn’t put out with him answering first, but she isn’t even paying him any attention; instead, she’s fully engrossed with the paper in her hand, and she looks… apprehensive? 

_ Weird. _

“That’s correct, Sasuke. These slips of paper will let you know your elemental chakra nature. All you have to do is grab it-” Kakashi holds out the slip of paper in front of his students, “and channel chakra into it.” The paper crumples immediately. “The crumpling means I have a lightning affinity. Fire-natured chakra will make the paper combust, Earth will make the paper turn to dirt, Water will make the paper wet, and Wind will split the paper in half. Konoha’s shinobi are primarily Fire-natured, and Wind is the least common. We’ll go in turns. Sasuke, you first.” Sakura straightens her spine from her stretch and turns to look.

Sasuke grabs his paper, fully knowing his affinity, and channels his chakra into the paper. It immediately crumples.

_ What. _

“Lighting, like me, Sasuke-kun!”

Unable to contain his shock, Sasuke blurts out “but I’ve always been Fire-natured.”

“No,” Kakashi replies, patiently, “you’ve always done the one Fire-based jutsu. I imagine it didn’t come easily?” 

Sasuke’s mind flashes back to his father’s disappointment, his own incapability, the painful charred skin on his hands and the red-hot burns around his mouth, and responds instinctively. “No?”

“Well, now you know why. Naruto, you’re up next.” 

As he moves into a one-leg-extended side stretch, Sasuke shoves aside the wave of  _ I wasn’t as big of a failure as I thought, it makes  _ sense-! to pay attention to his teammates. They’re both technically clanless, so he has no idea what to expect. 

“Here goes nothin’!” Naruto channels his chakra into the paper and it splits cleanly in half, both pieces immediately blown away by a sudden breeze. Unnoticed, Kakashi squints. “That’s wind, right?? The ultra-rare one?? I’m awesome, y’know!”

“Yes, yes, it was wind. Congratulations,” Kakashi says dryly. “Don’t let it get to your head. Wind is the rarest, and it’s also the hardest to control. We’ll have to practice extra hard with yours.” Raising his voice to cut through Naruto’s excited rambling, Kakashi continues. “Alright, Sakura-chan, you last.” 

After a moment of hesitation, Sakura finally channels her chakra into the paper, still holding it away from herself. It becomes completely saturated with water before it molds into mud, sliding down her arm and onto the ground with a wet  _ plop. _

Silence reigns in the clearing for a second before Sakura blinks with a “ _ gross, _ um, what -?” and Kakashi recovers from his surprise to reply. 

“Well, that was unexpected. Congratulations, Sakura-chan, you have two dominant natures.” 

“.... I what? I mean, I do?” Sakura looks at her hands in complete confusion, brows furrowed. Sasuke looks just as, if not  _ more _ , surprised, but ultimately it’s Naruto who speaks up. 

“Hey, hey, what does that mean?”

Sasuke, too surprised to let anger or jealousy dominate at the moment, listens raptly as Kakashi explains. 

“It’s… well, it’s incredibly  _ rare _ . Even most shinobi from fully-developed ninja clans don’t have two dominant affinities. Having a specific nature affinity means that jutsu with that element will not only be easier to learn, but they will be more powerful with less strain on the body and chakra system. With this, Sakura, you’ll be able to have more and stronger elemental jutsu within your repertoire.”

Sakura looks down at her hands, amazed -  _ she _ has something so rare?  _ Her? _

Kakashi ignores it when Sasuke hits Naruto upside the head when Naruto  _ loudly _ asks for clarification because “ _ I meant say it how it makes sense, y’know!”  _ \- instead, he speaks to Sakura in a quieter tone. “Yes, Sakura-chan, you really have two. Maybe you aren’t so far away from them as you think you are.”  _ In fact, this could give her a leg up in terms of combat. If she can master these elements… well, they’re still Genin. That’s a long way away. _

Sasuke has just finished explaining the concept to Naruto when Sakura finally seems to collect herself enough to continue on. 

After a quick nod from Sakura, Kakashi resumes their lesson.

“And this isn’t all! Your amazing sensei has procured  _ another _ present for you all!” Kakashi watches their hesitant excitement yet again - it seems the chakra paper was enough to restore their faith in him.  _ Brilliant _ . Kakashi pulls out a storage scroll and unseals it, revelling in the way their faces immediately drain of all color. “Weights! I’ve gotten each of you ankle and wrist weights, tailored to your individual level.” Kakashi hands them out one by one, internally giggling at the way the genin handle them as if they’re some deadly-poisonous snake and thanking Gai for the advice that led up to this moment. “Make sure you wrap your ankles and wrists before you put them on, otherwise they will chafe. Today, we’ll work on sparring, tomorrow we will do the same with the weights. No chakra use allowed!”

While Naruto and Sasuke perk up at the thought of sparring, Kakashi notices out of the corner of his eye that their female teammate’s anxiety has returned. Sakura nervously picks at the grass and says nothing.

“Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura - you’ll be sparring me, to start with. Who wants to go first?”

“Me, y’know!!” comes the predictable shout from Naruto as the blonde scrambles to his feet.  _ Why is he at 110 percent  _ literally _ all of the time _ is the thought at the forefront of Kakashi’s mind when Sasuke and Sakura get up and clear off somewhere near the treeline to the left, leaving him and his student to spar in the center.

“Alright.” Kakashi breathes, facing his sensei’s son. In, and out. “Begin.”

***

Sasuke eyes Sakura from his peripherals, noting her growing discomfort as the spar in front of them unfolds. 

_ What is wrong with her? She’s been weird since this morning. _ Sasuke doesn’t really register this as worrying, but if his team is going to be strong enough to survive something as big as anything involving Itachi, they all need to be in top shape. After a moment, he finally tears his eyes off of the match in front of him - he figures he’s not missing much more than Naruto being thrown for the fifth time - and focuses his attention on his other teammate. 

“Sakura,” he begins, and she focuses on him so quickly and so intently and so…  _ shocked? _ that nervousness floods his mind and he has to take a moment to regain himself - “you’re going, uh, you’re going to do fine. Kakashi won’t hurt you.” He swallows.

Sakura doesn’t respond for a long moment, and Sasuke can  _ feel _ the awkward tension getting worse and worse and  _ god, he should’ve just left it if it was going to be this weird _ , but just as he’s about to tune out her presence completely she finally replies. 

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I’m not… really worried about him hurting me. I mean, there’s not much- what I mean to say is, um -” 

Sakura turns away and takes a deep breath, trying to fight the heat rising to her cheeks because this isn’t really what she wants to talk about with her  _ crush, why, this is so embarrassing _ , and tries to continue. “I’m not afraid of him hurting me. I’m just…” again, her eyes flicker briefly towards the object of her admiration, “afraid of … embarrassing myself.”

“Oh,” Sasuke says, dumbly, and his silence drags on a little too long for a reply to feel anything other than awkward, so he doesn’t say anything else.

A sharp cry drags his attention towards the clearing once again as he sees Naruto go flying, propelled by something Kakashi has thrown -  _ is that a freaking frying pan, what _ \- at his blind spot. 

“You’ve got eyes - use them! They’re not just there for decoration!” 

“What does that even  _ mean, y’know?! _ ” comes the blonde’s furious shout as he crawls out of the lake. “And why’d ya hafta throw me in the  _ LAKE?! _ ” 

Ignoring Naruto, Kakashi continues. “Sasuke, you’re up next.” 

Sasuke thinks  _ Thank the gods, I’ve been saved, thank you Kakashi  _ as he walks forward and out of the awkward atmosphere he somehow created. He ignores Naruto demanding another rematch, also ignores Kakashi threatening to take Naruto’s ramen privileges away, clears his mind, and drops into the traditional Uchiha taijutsu stance. 

_ Breathe in. Breathe out. _

“Okay, Sasuke,” Kakashi says, Sakura dragging Naruto out of the way, “let’s begin.”

Sasuke rushes forward, executing a left roundhouse kick. When Kakashi predictably ducks down, Sasuke keeps his leg momentum going and braces his left hand on the ground, sweeping out his right leg in an attempt to throw his teacher off-balance. 

Sasuke does his best, but every kick, punch, elbow, and knee he throws is easily blocked, avoided, or otherwise thwarted. _Even_ Naruto _got in some hits, why can’t I_ ** _do this?_** The thought is rushing in his ears louder than his blood and his emotions are running high. In his mounting frustration, Sasuke fails to see Kakashi shift, and his moment of inattention leads to him being held with one hand behind his back and his other hand pressed into the back of his own head. 

“Sasuke,” Kakashi starts, ignoring the futile efforts of his student to get out of the restraint, “stop thrashing around and listen. You’re not getting what you’re doing wrong.”

“ _ Then tell me, _ ” Sasuke growls, irritation and feelings of inadequacy building up and bubbling from his chest.

“If I tell you,  _ you won’t learn. _ You’re rookie of the year, Sasuke, was that just luck? Figure it out. If I’m predicting all of your moves, what does that tell you?”

“That you have advanced reflexes because you’re a  _ jounin _ ?”

“If I was fighting you on terms where I would actively utilize those reflexes, you would be dead. I allowed Naruto to hit me-” “ _ Hey, I got those hits in fair and square!!”  _ comes from their left before a loud thunk and a shout of pain- “multiple times. So what are you missing?”

Sasuke swallows his anger and embarrassment and fiercely reviews everything he remembers about the spar until his embarrassing and complete defeat. After a few moments, the light of recognition flickers to life in his eyes and he gives his answer.

“It’s my Taijutsu style. You know it somehow. You know what I’m going to do.”

“Exactly. I’m responding to your mind, not your body. I can do that because you’re  _ predictable _ , Sasuke. Your form is excellent. Your mastery over the basics is peak for your age, Sasuke, but you’re textbook when it comes to your moves. The Uchiha standard taijutsu style is just that - standard.”

Insulted, Sasuke suddenly and explosively yells “But Naruto doesn’t even  _ have _ a Taijutsu style! How could he land those hits at all? And my clan did  _ just fine _ , didn’t they?” Sasuke winces internally at his word choice because  _ no, they didn’t do fine, they’re all skeletons in the ground  _ and tries to shove that thought to the Absolute Very Back of his mind.

“Your clan members were both further into mastery of the Uchiha Style  _ and _ much more experienced.” Kakashi releases his hold on Sasuke, “As you learn, as you spar, as you fight, you take that experience and you  _ build _ on the style, you don’t confine yourself within it. And as for Naruto, he may be lacking in the formal training and he may not have his own clan style, but he has you outstripped in terms of combat experience.”

Shocked, Sasuke whips his head around. He opens his mouth to no doubt deny the validity of that claim, but Kakashi raises his hand with a warning glare. Sasuke hits the ground in his frustration before getting up and into his stance again.

“Remember -  _ Improvise. _ ”

Sasuke closes his eyes, breathes out his frustration, and when he opens his eyes again with Kakashi’s ‘begin’, he rushes forward with another roundhouse. This time, instead of dropping when Kakashi does, he lands sturdily on his kicking leg and uses his other to execute a back hook-kick, attempting to use his momentum to pull Kakashi to the ground. Kakashi grabs the leg, flips Sasuke, and smiles. 

“Good. You’re learning. Again.” 

***

Sakura’s heart is pounding painfully in her chest, and unfortunately it isn’t because her crush is being athletic and amazing (well, she thinks so!) in front of her. Instead, her mind is running through a thousand different reasons this is a Bad Idea. She is  _ horrible _ at sparring. When she  _ really _ spars, she doesn’t look  _ good _ like Ino does, so Sakura just. Doesn’t. She’s always gone through the motions well enough but she never put in any effort in because she didn’t want to embarrass herself and  _ God this all sounds so stupid now, I’m going to embarrass myself anyways, I’m going to look awful and then Kakashi will see how weak I am and drop me from the team and Sasuke will hate me and even Naruto will know I’m just a fake and I’ll have to go home and tell my parents and then they’ll-  _

“Sakura-chan?” 

Sakura’s train of thought is derailed by Naruto’s unusually soft voice and she turns her head to see those impossibly blue eyes looking at her with concern. She still doesn’t really know how she feels about Naruto - he’s loud, irritating, has an annoying crush on her, but she sees how his eyes follow all of the team sometimes like he’s afraid. Like he’s… not confident, when he thinks nobody is looking. She’s also heard the whispers and seen the stares of the villagers when they do D-Ranks around the village, she’s heard how her parents hate him and tell her that he’s dangerous and evil and she always just  _ believed them _ but now that she knows him- she doesn’t understand why. His pranks are annoying but mostly harmless, and they aren’t anything that other boys around the village wouldn’t do. Well, maybe they wouldn’t graffiti the Hokage mountain, but the point still stands. Kiba was often just as loud as Naruto in the academy and he was a prankster too, but she’d never seen anyone look at Kiba with pure, unabashed hate in their eyes.

“Um, Sakura-chan?” 

It’s here that Sakura belatedly realizes that she’s been blatantly staring at him without saying anything, and she quickly snaps back to herself because Naruto looks kind of uncomfortable and apologetic somehow and that isn’t what she meant to do. 

“Sorry, I spaced out. What do you want, Naruto?”

She internally berates herself for her word choice because  _ oh, oops, that came out harsher than I meant it to _ , but luckily Naruto doesn’t seem to notice or care. 

“You were just lookin’ kinda bad just then, y’know? I just wanted ta let you know that you’re gonna do great!”

Sakura just kind of makes this half-thanks, half-terrified-whimper noise, because  _ ha, as if. No way is she about to do anything short of get absolutely demolished. _ She thinks of Kakashi and thinks of what he said to her the day they started all this, about how this is what training is for, but now he’s about to find out how  _ pathetic _ she really is and Sakura just. Doesn’t want it to happen in front of her teammates. Or at all, really. Suddenly, Sasuke’s body flies past her and into a tree, a tangled sort of shout leaving him before his body collides with the trunk and the breath is stolen from his lungs. 

“Um, Sasuke-kun, are you-” 

“Sakura! You’re up.” 

At the call of her teacher, Sakura’s shoulders immediately rocket almost to her ears. She stiffly turns to Naruto, her manners automatically making her bow and formally thank him for his encouragement, and heads out to the center of the training field to meet Kakashi. She feels two pairs of eyes on her back, feels anxious tears start to build up in her eyes because  _ she cannot do this, _ and she rights herself into the standard Academy Style.

Kakashi calls out ‘start’ and Sakura is quickly forced to swallow up her thoughts as Kakashi advances quick as lightning and she throws herself out of the way with an involuntary yelp. As the blows keep coming, her mind settles into a somewhat relaxed state and her dodges become a little less “diving for her life” and a little more graceful. She still looks like some awkward, dying gazelle, but she hasn’t gotten hit yet. 

_ This is … not what I expected? _ is Kakashi’s loudest thought as he punches, kicks, and otherwise attacks his female student, each movement missing- only by a slim margin, but missing all the same. What’s even more unexpected is the state of… not relaxation, but what Kakashi can only describe as  _ focused disassociation? _ that has come over her. She’s… present, but not - she’s focused, but not so much actively sparring as she’s falling into a routine of  _ just don’t get hit _ and she dodges his blows with freakish instinct, even if it isn’t particularly elegant. He almost expected to immediately stop the spar, what with her looking approximately two seconds away from hyperventilating as she got into her stance (which she immediately abandoned). 

“Sakura, stop evading. Fight back.” 

She continues as if she didn’t hear him, her eyes darting back and forth, tracking his movements as quickly as she can.

“Sakura.” 

She dodges again, executing a backbend to avoid his kick and ignoring every opening he’s trying to give her. Naruto and Sasuke straighten from their relaxed positions at the treeline.

“ _ Sakura _ .” 

She ducks under a punch.

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi has her pinned to the ground. He’s got his knee on her stomach, only bearing a small portion of his weight, as he keeps his arm pressed horizontally over her throat. He opens his mouth to speak, and she flinches away immediately. Kakashi’s eyes narrow. 

“Sakura, look at me,” he says, ignoring the way Naruto and Sasuke had migrated into the very edge of hearing range.

After that… spar? he wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but for her to open her eyes, look at him, and minutely flinch before coming back to herself with a blazing hot blush was  _ not it.  _

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I just got so focused on not getting hit that I forgot we were supposed to be sparring and I didn’t fight back at all and I’m sure you wanted to see if I could fight and I’m really -!”

“Sakura,” Kakashi cuts off her panicked ranting, “I’m not upset with you.”

Silence, a quick breath, and a hesitant “really?” is the response he gets. 

“Yes, really. In fact, discounting that it wasn’t technically sparring, it was impressive. You must have great instinct,” he finishes, gauging his student’s response as her brows furrowed. 

“Oh.” 

That’s all she says, and Kakashi doesn’t know what to say, and Naruto and Sasuke are being not-at-all tactful as they hover obviously close, and it all gets a little too awkward for him so he finally speaks up again. 

“Okay, we’re going to try that again, Sakura-chan. This time, go on the offensive.”

Sakura scrambles to her feet and into the standard Konoha style stance, face still warm but not the blaring fire-red it was just seconds ago. Naruto and Sasuke walk back to the perimeter. This time when Kakashi says start, she rushes forward and strikes out with a right snap kick, which is immediately brushed off. She teeters for a bit, her balance interrupted, and less-composedly lashes out with her other foot in an attempt to gain some momentum. It doesn’t work, and neither does her series of standard punches, and Sakura is feeling more and more incompetent with every missed or redirected hit. Her emotions are getting the best of her. Her focus is drifting to how much she’d rather be doing anything else but this. She’s about ten seconds away from forfeiting when she hears it - 

“Go, Sakura-chan!! You can  _ do _ this, y’know!!”

Sakura turns, briefly, catches the sight of her blonde teammate with his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify his shout. 

_ Not that he needs it, _ she thinks fondly, her eyes quickly moving on and flickering to her crush.  _ What am I doing wallowing? I can’t look bad in front of Sasuke-kun! I won’t go down this easily, shannaro! _

Kakashi allows the moment of distraction, a small smile is hidden behind his mask when the oldest member of his team turns back to him with a new determination in her shoulders.

Sakura closes her eyes - just for a second - and allows herself to shove out every emotion except for her newfound determination. All that fills her is a cool focus as she finally, truly embraces the spar. She rushes forward again, throwing sweep kicks and punches aimed to counteract her teacher’s center of balance. She dodges a retaliatory strike, and -  _ there! _ \- her razor-sharp mind, now uninhibited by swirling emotion, notices an opening that she registers is intentional but that she takes anyway. As fast as she can, she gracelessly punches Kakashi’s open side, all of her mind working in overdrive before she’s unceremoniously thrown into the ground. 

_ “Fucking  _ ow _ , what the  _ fuck” briefly overrides any other thought Kakashi has even as he instinctively catches her arm and flips her over.  _ Why are her hits so strong? _ He isn’t genuinely in pain, just surprised - he had expected to barely even feel the hit. 

He was not expecting to have to evaluate his ribs for fractures.

He takes in the disappointed light in Sakura’s eyes and offers his hand to help her up. 

“You hit hard, Sa-ku-ra-chan!” he says, playfully pulling out her name in a sing-song voice. “Very impressive. And once you found your focus, you caught on easily to the openings I was giving you. Good job!”

Sakura flushes at the praise. 

“However,” Kakashi begins, again, ignoring how Sakura subtly raises her shoulders up and shrinks in on herself ever-so-slightly, “you need to work on your battle confidence. In a fight, you won’t have an opportunity to pause and prepare yourself. If you don’t go into a fight with any intention, you’ll die before you can find your focus. You don’t have to blindly rush forward, but if you don’t fight back all you’ll do is drive yourself into the ground. It’s okay,” he says, noticing Sakura becoming smaller and smaller with every word, “your only sparring experience was probably just the Academy, so it’s to be expected. From now on, we’ll be sparring a few times a week to condition your mind and body. That goes for all of you,” he finishes, raising his voice, calling out Naruto and Sasuke because he  _ knows _ they were eavesdropping, the little  _ shits _ . 

“Okay, you three, good job. We’ll continue our training tomorrow, but for today, we can do a few D-Ranks. They’ll be good for weapon and food money. Consider it a little break. Now who’s ready to paint some sheds?” 

The three genin audibly groan. 

“Now, that’s no way to treat your kind sensei! Hm… what shall I do to reprimand you?” He delights in the way his genin immediately snap their mouths shut and withhold further complaints. “I know. Didn’t I give you all some weights to wear?” 

Afraid of further reprimand, the genin only  _ silently _ despair. Kakashi laugh is a little too close to maniacal for his genin’s comfort.

***

The sun dips into the horizon, painting the sky in hazy shades of orange, blue, and pink. The evening humidity settles around them all as they sit in Ichiraku’s, the thick air sticking to their skin in a fine sheen. Team Seven tiredly gives their thanks for the meal, Naruto gives an extra-bright smile to Teuchi, and they begin to eat. It was a long day. 

The D-Ranks were a nice  _ physical _ break, but dealing with irritable civilians, Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry, and Sakura’s outbursts of rage left them all just as tired as if they spent a full day on physical conditioning. After they turned in every last one of their missions, Naruto suggested Ichiraku’s and just before Sasuke and Sakura could hastily exit the situation, Kakashi grabbed onto both of their collars and said it would be a great bonding moment to have their first team dinner. 

Here now they sit, hair and faces covered in little flecks and streaks of paint, exhausted and a bit uncomfortable in the muggy twilight air, eating their dinners with various degrees of enthusiasm. 

Naruto, as always, is digging in with unmatchable fervor.

Sasuke is sullen and quiet as he eats his plate of dumplings. 

Kakashi has somehow eaten all of his food without  _ one _ of them seeing him take off his mask and honestly, they are all too afraid to ask. 

It’s Sakura who breaks the drained silence, absentmindedly picking at her food. 

“Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hm?” 

“I was just wondering... um, why were we actually put on this team?” 

The question elicits a raised brow from Kakashi, who puts down his book but says nothing. 

“I mean- if it’s okay to ask! I was just, um, I was just wondering because, well, Iruka-sensei said that the teams were put together to balance out their scores, but we are basically the only team that rule applies to, so. I’ve been thinking. About it. Um, for a bit.” 

Kakashi doesn’t say anything for another second, and Sakura is about to start apologizing for even asking when he suddenly says “Yeah, that wasn’t even sort of why you were put together.” Sasuke has discarded his food altogether in favor of looking expectantly at Kakashi. 

“Right. Well, Sakura, good job, again. You’re right, that isn’t how the squads were assembled, at least not quite. You were each assembled to this team because you three were the best fit with the best qualifications and balance for the team designation.” 

“Um, I kinda… don’t get that at all, y’know?” Naruto speaks up, the first indication that he’s even paying attention. “Team designation?” 

Kakashi scratches his chin. All three genin lean in expectantly. “The team purpose. Our place in the village, what we do. Can any of you guess what that is?” 

All he gets in return are blank stares. He sighs. “Team Seven is a combat unit.” 

Sasuke’s eyes light up - combat focus means dangerous missions, right? Dangerous missions might equal an encounter with Itachi someday. Naruto similarly grins, no doubt thinking along the lines of being a grand hero to the village and ‘I’m gonna fight so many bad guys and rescue so many princesses!’

Sakura is, frankly, more confused than before she asked.  _ Me. On a combat squad. _ She almost scoffs out loud at the sheer ridiculousness, trying (and failing) to squash the flowering uneasiness that’s been growing till now, but she doesn’t say anything. She figures she’s already reached her ‘questioning authority figures’ quota for the day, and continues eating. 

Kakashi is tired, Naruto is high off of ramen and his seemingly never-ending supply of keyed up energy, Sasuke is lost deep within his own thoughts and plans, and Sakura is uneasy. 

Team Seven walks home from their first team dinner, weights in their bags and thoughts churning away in their minds, and they go their separate ways. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so sorry about the wait for this chapter! Life has been insane. Last year really took a toll on me, but recently I find myself finally clawing my way back to a mental state that's more stable and optimistic. I've also got a bit more free time with a bit less stress, now, so while I can't make any promises I can say that I'm more often in the mood to write. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, despite its late arrival! Thank you for reading, and as always please tell me what you think if you have the time!


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